Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Marriage Equality

I have a friend who lost custody of her children when her partner died. These two had a marriage that was not recognized by society or our government because they were both women. My friend had not been allowed to adopt the kids, who were biological children of her partner. She would have lost her job if she'd talked openly of her loss, so she suffered through this tragedy alone. The existing system failed my friend when she needed help the most, compounding her loss.

She kept contact with her kids as well as she could and they grew into sweet, accomplished, and open-minded adults. Should this kind of thing be allowed to happen? Really? Think of how slaves used to be unceremoniously separated from their families and how women used to stay with abusive men for fear of losing their children. How is this scenario any different than it is now for my friend?

The law as it exists is simple case of 'some people are more equal than others.'

This is only one example of why the legislation NEEDS to change. Can we learn from my friend's losses? Can we keep from compounding them?

Thank you for listening, jb

 

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